State and Local Governments Adopt Microsoft Dynamics CRM to Improve Citizen Service Delivery

Editor’s note – March 27, 2013 – The attribution for the quotation in this article was corrected post-publication.

REDMOND, Wash. — March 27, 2013 — Microsoft Corp. today announced four Microsoft Dynamics Customer Excellence Award winners and showcased eight unique customer approaches to using Microsoft Dynamics in the state and local government market. These customers join more than 500 state and local government organizations leveraging the power of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform to achieve cost savings, streamline operations and transform the delivery of citizen services.

“State and local government leaders are facing increasing pressure to cut costs while improving our nation’s most critical services across public safety, healthcare and entitlement programs,” said Michael Donlan, vice president, U.S. State and Local Government at Microsoft. “Our Customer Excellence Award winners are using Microsoft Dynamics CRM to solve complex business challenges, grow with constituent demands and replace legacy IT environments. We applaud their vision and leadership in driving significant impact for their constituents.”

Faced with serious fiscal challenges and resource constraints, government, education and healthcare organizations are seeking alternatives to expensive legacy systems. Public sector leaders are increasingly turning to Microsoft Dynamics CRM because the solution empowers organizations to be more responsive to citizen needs at a fraction of the cost, and these four award winners — Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, Commonwealth of Virginia, Cancer Treatment Centers of America Inc. and Illinois Department of Corrections — are leading the way through their innovative deployments.

State and Local Governments

• Innovative Service Delivery and Cost Savings: Commonwealth of Virginia. The commonwealth has modernized multiple agencies’ business functions with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Virginia decided to replace outdated, manual systems and processes by adopting a shared services environment, eliminating the need for customized agency solutions. The modernization has sped the processing of citizen services inquiries; eliminated outdated, unsupported software and hardware systems; and enabled staff to work on other, more strategic tasks. The agencies are now operating more efficiently, which benefits both the citizens of Virginia and other state agencies. Virginia continues its innovative and creative approach to improving customer service and is saving taxpayers’ dollars in the process. Commonwealth of Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell summarized, “It makes the citizens happier; it makes our state employees happier because they can deliver better value and service to the customer. It’s just a win-win.”

• Managing a Citywide Convention: City of Charlotte, N.C. Faced with hosting a large influx of visitors during the 2012 Democratic National Convention, the city needed to replace its manual permitting processes with a new solution. The city adopted Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online and tailored the permitting solution to meet the unique demands of hosting the convention. The deployment has enabled Charlotte to reduce the burden of maintenance on its IT resources, automate previously manual workflows and streamline the overall event application process.

• Driving Up Jobs and Revenue: State of Indiana Economic Development Corp. (IEDC). Indiana and its economic development corporation have undertaken massive transformations that make the state more economically viable and improve responsiveness, accountability and efficiency. Bucking downturn trends, the state has attracted $6.4 billion in new economic development and 27,620 jobs. To achieve these results, the state improved collaboration and data access and automated processes by partnering with Crowe Horwarth International to deliver the Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution, enabling economic development staff to spend more time strengthening existing business relationships and pursuing prospective companies. Chad Pittman, executive vice president at IEDC, explained, “With the business process transformation and Microsoft Dynamics CRM implementation, IEDC doubled per-employee productivity and total deal flow while reducing the agency’s annual budget allocation from $60 million to $40 million.”

Justice and Public Safety Agencies

• Unified Offender Case Management: County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania. The courts, jails, district attorneys, and probation and parole offices that make up the criminal justice system previously maintained disparate case management systems. This wide range of applications lacked common standards, which led to duplicative data entries and made reporting and analysis very complex. As a result, the association developed a unified case management solution built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Combined with a set of Nation Information Exchange Model-compliant data standards, the platform improved information sharing at all levels of government and increased efficiency and accuracy throughout the offender lifecycle.

• Advanced Information Sharing and Mobile Victim Notification: Indiana Department of Corrections (IDOC). The department is integrating technology services to improve communication between criminal justice partners and to better serve victims. Built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Indiana Statewide Automated Victim Information and Notification shares custody information about offenders with crime victims and citizens. The IDOC can now personalize notifications, giving them control over how and when they are notified and improving information that is provided to victims, law enforcement and other justice partners.

• Reforming the Criminal Justice System: Illinois Department of Corrections (DOC). Guided by the governor’s vision, Illinois is reforming the criminal justice system through a public-private partnership for the state’s first cloud-based deployment, built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. Illinois DOC selected the solution for its Offender-360 project to manage its statewide criminal justice population and help protect citizen safety. Illinois DOC is undergoing a phased rollout, anticipating 5,500 users of Offender-360 by the summer of 2013. The solution centralizes all information and intelligence on offenders to help staff make more effective and informed decisions regarding placement, rehabilitation and release. “This cutting-edge technology will give Illinois one of the most advanced criminal justice information systems in the country,” said Illinois Governor Pat Quinn. “It will save Illinois’ taxpayers millions of dollars while increasing public safety throughout the state.”

Health and Human Services Agencies

• Reimagined Health and Streamlined Delivery of Care: Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH). Leveraging Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Louisiana DHH is modernizing case management for the Office of Adult and Aging Services, providing case workers and citizens with one solution for intake, assessment, electronic plan of care and ongoing case management. Microsoft Dynamics CRM will help Louisiana DHH consolidate more than 109 existing case management applications under a single platform, enabling a projected decrease in more than 40 percent of redundant tasks and programs. Louisiana DHH plans to use Dynamics CRM as part of its upcoming Medicaid eligibility modernization engagement with Deloitte Consulting to support Medicaid recipients across the state. “Innovation is occurring in all corners of our healthcare system where states have led the execution of nation’s health IT agenda,” said Bruce Greenstein, secretary, Louisiana DHH. “We must continue to push the entire healthcare community toward solutions that translate new technological capabilities into more efficient delivery of care and better health outcomes.”

• Rapid Hotline Response and Reduced Abuse: Florida Department of Children & Families Abuse Hotline. IBM leverages Microsoft Dynamics CRM to deliver a call-center solution for more efficient intake processes, online reporting and performance management functions to improve the experience for more than 200 hotline counselors and the quality of interaction with child protective investigators and law enforcement. As a result of using the platform, the hotline can more quickly respond to calls, help ensure greater data accuracy, and more effectively identify patterns of abuse and manage high-risk situations.

• Inter-County Standardization and Care Coordination: Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD). To transform a highly fragmented environment to a more seamless, coordinated system, the DODD chose Microsoft Dynamics CRM for its Imagine project. The new shared information system environment lets 18 region V counties, the Mideast Ohio Regional Council and its supporting council of government use shared administrative activities and standardized practices to deliver services to individuals with developmental disabilities.

• Timely and Responsive Benefits: The State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS). CareDirector, built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM, will be used to manage the Aging and Disability Resource Centers across the state, including options and benefits counseling services, and to manage its Older Americans Act programs for nutrition, transportation and other services for seniors and people with disabilities. The system promises timely, responsive and transparent data for DHS’ operations.

• Greater Patient Care, Savings and Retention: Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA). CTCA offers cancer patients an integrated care model that combines traditional medical care with therapies to help manage side effects, strengthen the immune system and improve quality of life. After implementing Microsoft Dynamics CRM, the CTCA can now more effectively maintain records, have a single view of the patient, integrate with ancillary systems and processes, and respond to growth and patient needs. Microsoft Dynamics CRM has resulted in significant cost savings and improved retention for CTCA.

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